Argentex’s Pinguino shows polymetallic strength

Vancouver – A 21,000-metre drilling effort at the Pinguino property in Santa Cruz, Argentina, is paying off as drill intercepts return base and precious metals as well as the specialty metal indium for owner Argentex Mining (ATX-V).

Argentex discovered silver-indium-zinc-lead-gold mineralization at Pinguino in 2006 and has since drilled 269 holes totalling more than 30,000 metres at the site. Pinguino is unique for the region in that the property hosts both silver-gold and indium-enriched base metal mineralization. Metals are contained in multiple zones aligned mostly along the northwest-trending Tranquilo fault.

With the last set of results from its recent drill campaign expected in weeks, Argentex is almost ready to calculate an initial resource estimate for Pinguino. The company had to disperse drill holes between the project’s multiple zones and has to date tested 15 different zones, though the bulk of the drilling was focused on Marta Este and Marta Centro.

Marta Este is showing strength as a gold-silver target, returning short but well-mineralized intercepts. Hole 147, for example, returned 2.5 metres grading 0.3 gram indium per tonne, 5.32 grams gold per tonne, 29 grams silver per tonne, 0.75% lead, and 0.76% zinc from 74 metres depth. Hole 205 cut 1.5 metres averaging 0.9 gram indium, 3.06 grams gold, 10.4 grams silver, 0.79% lead, and 0.8% zinc from 160 metres downhole. And hole 217 returned 22.2 grams indium, 2.17 grams gold, 314 grams silver, 2.15% lead, and 4.76% zinc over 5 metres, starting 157 metres downhole.

Recent results from Marta Centro indicate that zone is better endowed with base metals and indium. Hole 140 returned 44.7 grams indium, 0.41 gram gold, 103.4 grams silver, 3.43% lead, and 7.07% zinc over 6.5 metres from 116 metres depth and hole 166 cut 4.5 metres grading 15.9 grams indium, 0.5 gram gold, 107.6 grams silver, 1.39% lead, and 6.13% zinc. Earlier holes returned longer intercepts, including 13.5 metres grading 46.4 grams indium, 0.35 gram gold, 50.6 grams silver, 1.61% lead, and 7.91% zinc from 209 metres down hole 163 and 12.7 metres grading 60.2 grams indium, 0.44 gram gold, 141 grams silver, 3.34% lead, and 6.05% zinc from hole 164.

Marta Centro also provided the deepest hole drilled to date at Pinguino: a drill pulled an 8.9-metre intercept grading 92 grams silver and 6.55% lead-zinc from 400 metres depth. Argentex positioned drill hole 269 in a topographic low adjacent to the weathering-resistant Marta Centro vein, to get the best depth penetration.

At Marta Noroeste, an area that has seen only limited drilling, a recent hole shows high gold and silver grades: hole 197 returned 6.99 grams gold, 773.5 grams silver, 0.15% lead, ad 0.11% zinc over 1.4 metres. Another Marta Noroeste hole had to be re-assayed using a metallic screen because the precious metal grades were so high; in its second assay hole 196 returned 0.2 gram indium, 251.26 grams gold, greater than 100 grams silver, 0.51% lead, and 0.16% zinc over 0.4 metres.

At the zone known as Savary, precious metals are also carrying the day. Hole 257 cut 2 metres grading 2.6 grams indium, 1.97 grams gold, 11.2 grams silver, 0.1% lead, and 0.05% zinc starting just 18 metres downhole. And hole 262 returned 1.2 grams indium, 2.21 grams gold, 3 grams silver, 0.1% lead, and 0.04% zinc over 3.8 metres, from 65 metres depth.

Drill holes from Marta Norte deliver significant silver: hole 183 cut 1.5 metres grading 0.62 gram gold, 554.8 grams silver, 1.71% lead, and 1.58% zinc from 85 metres depth and hole 177 returned 0.86 gram gold, 529 grams silver, and 0.62% zinc over 1.1 metres. At Yvonne Sur, base metals are more dominant, as shown by a 12.5-metre intercept grading 31 grams indium, 0.25 gram gold, 119.7 grams silver, 6.1% lead, and 7.4% zinc. And hole 200 returned the longest interval of high-grade base metal mineralization on the property to date: 12.5 metres of 31 grams indium, 0.25 gram gold, 119.7 grams silver, 6.05% lead, and 7.39% zinc.

The northwest-trending Tranquilo fault cuts through the Pinguino property and Argentex realized early in its exploration that the fault seems to be associated with local epithermal mineralization. That led the company to stake the 10,000-hectare Plata Leon property that is adjacent to Pinguino to the northwest.

Early fieldwork at Plata Leon identified multiple gossanous outcrops that appear similar to the outcrops at Pinguino that, when drilled to depth, were found to be deep-penetrating sulphide rich polymetallic veins. Argentex plans to follow up in its Plata Leon fieldwork with drilling in the future.

On the latest set of Pinguino assays Argentex’s share price remained unchanged at 49¢. The company has a 52-week trading range of 8.5¢ to $1.10 and has 33 million shares outstanding, 44 million fully diluted.